Arthur Elgort (born June 8, 1940) is an American fashion photographer best known for his work with '' Vogue'' magazine.

Early life and education

Elgort was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, to Sophie (née Didimamoff) and Harry Elgort (April 10, 1908 – October 23, 1998), a restaurant owner. He is of Russian-Jewish heritage. Raised in New York City, he attended Stuyvesant High School and

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

, where he studied painting.

Career

Elgort began his career working as a photo assistant to Gosta "Gus" Peterson. Elgort's 1971 debut in ''British Vogue'' created a sensation in the Fashion Photography world where his soon-to-be iconic "snapshot" style and emphasis on movement and natural light liberated the idea of fashion photography. In September 2008, he told ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American progressive online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and ...

'' that he credited '' Mademoiselle'' for his big break: "They were really brave and gave me a chance. It was the first time I was shooting a cover instead of a half-page here or there." He worked for such magazines as ''Vogue'' and ''International Vogue'', '' Glamour'', '' GQ'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', and ''

'', and shooting advertising campaigns with fashion labels as

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent. He continued to work for fashion publications, as well as working on 2009 advertising campaigns with Via Spiga and

Liz Claiborne Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne (March 31, 1929 – June 26, 2007) was an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Her success was built upon stylish yet affordable apparel for career women featuring colorfully tailored separates that cou ...

with Isaac Mizrahi. His work is exhibited in the permanent collections of the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

in New York, in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London and in the Museum of Fine Arts in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. In 2011, Elgort won the CFDA Board of Directors' Award.

Personal life

Elgort resides in New York City with his wife, Grethe Barrett Holby, who is a producer, stage director, choreographer, and

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

. They have a daughter, fashion photographer Sophie Elgort, and two sons, one of whom is actor and singer

Ansel Elgort Ansel Elgort (born March 14, 1994) is an American actor and singer. He began his acting career with a supporting role in the horror film '' Carrie'' (2013). He gained wider recognition for starring as a teenage cancer patient in the romantic d ...

. Elgort's nephew is stand-up comedian

Sam Morril Sam Morril (born ) is an American stand-up comedian. Early life Morril was born in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City. In a 2024 episode of the ''We Might Be Drunk'' podcast, Morril said that according to his 23andMe test, his ancestry is "a ...

Books

* * Photographs of several super models like

Christy Turlington Christy Nicole Turlington Burns ( Turlington; born January 2, 1969) is an American fashion model. She initially attracted fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a supermodel. She represented Calvin Klein's Eternity campaign in 1989 and aga ...

Paulina Porizkova Paulina Porizkova (; born 9 April 1965) is a fashion model and author. Born in Czechoslovakia, she moved to Sweden in 1973 and began modelling in France at the age of 15. In 1984, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on th ...

, and Linda Evangelista * *

Films

Elgort made several films, including ''Colorado Cowboy'' that follows legendary cowboy, Bruce Ford, and which won the award for Best Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994. * ''Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story'' * ''Colorado Cowboy: The Bruce Ford Story'': Winner Best Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival 1994

Exhibits

* "Arthur Elgort 1970-2010", ''Staley Wise Gallery''

References

External links

*
Arthur Elgort
at ArtNet
Arthur Elgort archive
at Teen Vogue.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Elgort, Arthur 1940 births Living people American people of Russian-Jewish descent American Ashkenazi Jews American fashion photographers Hunter College alumni Jewish American artists Photographers from Brooklyn Photographers from New York (state) Stuyvesant High School alumni 21st-century American Jews